Housing evidence / case study · working draft
WERO: group stop-smoking competition
Māori and Pacific teams brought together community support, coaching and a stop-smoking competition.
01 / THE APPROACH
What was tried
WERO made quitting a team challenge in Māori and Pacific communities in New Zealand. Fifteen teams, comprising 148 adults, competed over three months for a NZ$5,000 prize for a charity or community group of their choice.
Support came from teammates, a coach and cessation experts, alongside interactive web and mobile tools. The reward was collective: the team competed for something benefiting its chosen community. Smoking status was checked biologically at the start and end of the competition, followed by a later self-reported follow-up.
Family and community relationships were central to how the programme was designed.
02 / THE FINDINGS
What was learned
At the end of the competition, 36% were verified as quit. At six months, 26% reported not smoking; that later figure was not biologically verified.
The results suggest a promising way to make quitting social and mutually supported. There was no comparison group, however, so the study cannot establish how many people quit because of WERO. Its Māori and Pacific cultural foundations are part of the intervention, not details that can simply be removed when adapting it elsewhere.
03 / TRANSFER TO WALES
What Wales could learn
Teams needed a coach, cessation support and a shared goal, supported by web and mobile tools. The prize benefited a chosen community organisation, rather than only an individual participant.
This illustrates collective motivation within Māori and Pacific relationships. There was no comparison group, and those cultural foundations should not be treated as a ready-made Welsh programme.
Sources & review
Glover et al., BMC Public Health 14:599 (2014). Public primary paper checked 22 October 2026. Three-month competition, followed by a self-reported outcome three months later. No controlled estimate of effectiveness.
